Heroin

Prescription painkillers are the most prescribed drugs in the U.S. Despite the fact that many doctors are reluctant to give the drugs to their patients, doctors also don’t tend to offer other solutions – and there are many. However, if more patients were made aware of the dangers of painkillers, they might well avoid dependence and addiction and demand other solutions for their pain. The Cape May County (New Jersey) PRIDE committee recently came up with an excellent idea to accomplish the first step by raising awareness of one disastrous consequence – heroin addiction more…

You’d think that someone who had just overdosed on a drug and would have died had someone not been there with Narcon would have a wake-up call. Time to quit – next time it happens there might not be any Narcon close enough to save your life. But although Narcon has saved many lives, the overdose is rarely taken seriously enough to get an addict to quit drugs – which is why North Dakota’s West Fargo Police Chief Mike Reitan, is trying to find a way to make more treatment available. more…

It’s amazing to hear stories of recovery, even more amazing to hear about a former addict’s background. It’s often nothing like you would expect. Fortunately, addiction help can really turn lives around. more…

Maine has had serious drug addiction problems. They’re currently calling heroin addiction an epidemic, and overdoses are skyrocketing. Political leaders – who’ve taken a long time to pass any legislation on this, largely due to the left and right not playing nice – have finally proposed a bill that requires several changes and additions to the State’s drug treatment and prevention resources. But although locals are happy that something is being done, they’re disappointed that many of the changes are long-term. Addicts need help right now. more…

In Concord, New Hampshire, the number of people expected to die from heroin and opioid overdoses – which includes overdoses of heroin, fentanyl, Opana, prescription painkillers like OxyContin, hydrocodone, oxycodone, vicodin, and so on – is expected to be over 400 by the end of 2015, which is twice the number of overdose deaths in 2013. But a panel of New Hampshire lawmakers is taking steps to make it easier to get treatment. more…

A company in Twin Cities recently proposed opening a methadone clinic in Mankato – population under 40,000, spread across three counties: Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur – but Blue Earth County officials said no. Is the county depriving heroin and prescription painkiller addicts an opportunity to get off drugs? Not from the county’s viewpoint. In fact, county officials are worried that a methadone clinic could worsen the county’s drug problem. How could that happen? more…

There’s a law in Tennessee that makes it a criminal offense for a woman to have a baby born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS happens when the pregnant woman takes opiates or opioids – like heroin, morphine, prescription painkillers – during pregnancy and the baby is born addicted. NAS puts the baby through agony, could cause permanent damage, and risks the baby’s life. The mother is charged with ‘fetal assault’.

Unless you’re an addict, it’s hard to imagine what kind of hell an NAS baby is going through. more…

Alaska has one of the worst heroin problems in the entire U.S. but just like everywhere else in the U.S., the problem often start with prescription drugs. In Jane’s case, she was misdiagnosed and started self-medicating. First with marijuana, then hydrocodone, then oxycontin, and then heroin. How did Jane get sober? more…

In East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, the police department is now going to follow in the footsteps of Gloucester police by helping drug addicts who come to the station and turn in their drugs get into treatment immediately. Gloucester has had the program going for four months and, so far, has helped 250 addicts find treatment facilities with a bed available for them. more…

In most states, an addict who’s overdosed or experienced some other mishap that lands them in the ER is treated and then sent back out into the life that nearly killed them. They often wind up back in the ER and, of course, some of them don’t even make it to the ER the next time. They just die. In Massachusetts, more than 1,200 people died from overdoses of heroin or prescription painkillers last year and Governor Charlie Baker is filing a bill this week that will give hospitals the right to hold addicts who come to the ER for 72 hours so the doctors can assess their condition and determine whether they should be forced to get treatment. more…

Chicago’s used to seeing a lot of heroin overdoses. At this time of year (beginning of October) it’s about one every 2 hours. And about 13 percent of those people – more than 550 of them – die. But last week, for a period of 72 hours, the number of overdoses skyrockets to one an hour. Why? more…

I read a news story today about a former high school and college athlete, DJ, who lost a promising career as an athlete due to an injury. But it wasn’t the injury that put him on the sidelines, it was the prescription drugs he took for the pain. How does taking a painkiller for an injury turn into addiction? more…

There’s probably nothing worse than having a kid, spouse, parent or close friend on drugs and spending most of your time worrying about whether they’re safe and whether you’re going to get a phone call giving you bad news.

Of course, the best solution to drug addiction is prevention, not treatment. And there are many things you can do to help prevent them from getting into drugs.

A lot of people dispute the disease theory of addiction. And for good reason: Although the drugs can definitely cause physical dependency, true addiction involves a mental and emotional element – it’s a symptom that the person has things going on in their life that they don’t know how to deal with. more…

I love it when things are direct and uncomplicated. In Kenton County, Kentucky – where the heroin addiction problem is very serious – they’ve started a new program that is getting heroin addicts out of jail and through rehab. And it’s remarkably successful. more…

I recently read an article about the ‘seeds of addiction’. It’s about the current opioid and heroin addiction epidemic being started because of people being in pain. The ‘pain’ referred to was cancer pain – which can be devastating. But the major drug being used to fight it was OxyContin. A very strong, very addictive painkiller, which doctors started prescribing for every minor pain and discomfort under the sun. But there are alternatives to taking these dangerous pills. more…

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is the result of babies born addicted to opioids. A few years ago I reported statistics on how many babies go through the hell of being born addicted to prescription drugs and having to go through the torture of withdrawal. Drug withdrawal is torture for everyone– you can imagine how bad it must be for a baby, just out of the womb, their body very delicate, and with no understanding of why they hurt.

When someone goes to drug addiction treatment, the goal is to change their life. Whatever led up to them taking drugs has been addressed, whatever is keeping them on drugs has been addressed, and they’ve changed those things in their life that continue to make them want to take drugs. That’s a tall order, but it is true rehabilitation. Here’s a perfect example of what should happen. more…

Governor Mike Pence of Indiana declared a public health emergency four days ago in an effort to get an HIV outbreak under control. Although he has banned needle exchanges, 90 new HIV cases in the last few months in one small county convinced him that he needs to temporarily lift that ban. Almost all the HIV cases are related to injecting Opana with shared needles. more…